RVB: Free to Kill
by fireprincessyunara
Summary: the story of three freelancer agents during project freelancer. agents California, Colorado, and Hawaii are getting one mission after the other, and if that wasn't stress enough now other freelancers are trying to get on that damn board.
1. Chapter 1

**Free to kill**

Chapter 1: from what we can remember

_ Well ladies, i am glad that you have come, i have many questions for you, for one, how was it that you three were part of project freelancer, seeing that you have no military experience at all…._

_ ~ The Counselor~_

Cali stood in front of the large screen displaying the names and rank of the top Freelancers, she wasn't on the board, then again, she never tried to be on it, and it wasn't why she was here. She turned her head to the side and smiled slightly as she saw Hawaii walk up to her, arms folded across her chest, and a mischievous look on her dark skinned face. they had been together since the beginning, fact was they had been friends since they were in high school, and she was the only one out of three she was willing to work with, the third was her own little sister, Colorado, whom at this time was probably checking over her weapons, and armor. It was just like the girl to go over her things over and over again.

"So, i heard you had to talk to the director," Hawaii said as she leaned on the glass window that kept them from the room behind it.

"Yeah," Cali sighed, she looked down at her helmet and sighed again. "We will be leaving once again, since North and South failed their objective, he won't risk putting them out on another recon mission, so it's up to us," Cali shook her head.

"Really, But didn't they get the information they needed?" Hawaii asked a little pissed off that they get messy seconds.

"Yes, but as i had said before the twins fucked up on the main part, keeping hidden, and since we excel in that, he had asked us to take up the next recon mission," Cali explained as she stood up.

"How did this happen?" she asked.

"What?" asked a familiar voice, it was Colorado, she walked up to the pair and had her hands clasped behind her back, her helmet neatly hung on her belt as she looked at the two, her short black hair now free of the hair tie she normally used while they were out in a battle.

"Oh, hey Ra, i was just asking how it is that we got here, how we became a part of project freelancer," Hawaii said.

"You don't remember? The covenant attacked our home, and we had to defend it from them for days until the UNSC came in and took over," Ra shrugged as she briefly explained what had led to their participation in the project.

"Yeah i know that, but what led to it, i mean, i know that we were fighting till we were relieved, but how were we found?" Hawaii wasn't going to let this go so easily.

"Simple, we were searched out after the director read a file about the battle, remember, we were the 'three women who surprisingly held their own against a squad of covenant fighters, and they weren't just grunts,'" Cali beamed proudly.

"Yeah that was a great day, i mean, when do we get a day where we can kill more than one?" Ra asked.

"Yeah, and then three weeks later we are visited by the Director," Hawaii nodded her head as the memory started to come back.

"He lets us see our husbands, and we join his project, that's how we got here," she smiled then started walking towards her room. "Get some sleep girls, we have woke in the morning," she called out.

The other two sighed deeply, they knew what that meant, a long day of training, and a long night doing recon, or in some case an all-day fight that leads to the death of many and gathering of supplies. Whatever it was they knew that they better listen to her and get some sleep.

Cali walked over to her room and sighed shaking her head and took out the pony tail in her hair, letting the tight bun fall down and curl at the ends. She had long thick black hair, and unlike most women she refused to cut it and instead tied it up, she also pinned her bangs back so that they wouldn't get in the way while she was fighting.

"I have a long day ahead of me," she grumbled as she pushed open her door.

"Hey Cali, i didn't think you would be back so soon."

Cali turned around to see gray and gold armored man, she knew him, not too well, but she remembered him from one of her missions the director sent her to, to see if she could work with others, she could, she just preferred to work with people she knew.

"Wash, your room isn't in this area, what are you doing here?" she asked raising an eyebrow.

"Thought i would come see you, just went through some drama about that stupid board." He rubbed the back of his neck as he awkwardly spoke to the girl he barely knew.

Cali put her hands on her hips, "yeah, i saw that thing, i wondered what it was, then lost all interest," she smiled kindly, normally she wouldn't even try to make friendly conversation, but Wash did save her life, so she made an exception for him.

"You're not going to bash on me for being on that board are you?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

"No i don't think i will, hey, uh, i still owe you that cup of caf so, want to come to the mess with me?" she offered, this was going to be a bit harder then she had thought, her natural skill for talking to people was more than a bit rusty.

"Caf, you mean coffee?" Wash asked. "You hate coffee, and…i can't believe you remembered that bet," he smiled.

"I know i hate coffee, and yes i did say caf," she huffed. "Why wouldn't I remember the bet?" Cali asked as she walked into her room. "Just let me take this armor off, it's really annoying sometimes," she added.

Wash didn't get to say anything, since by the time he opened his mouth she was gone. "I guess I'll wait out here."

Ra walked to her room, she was dead tired, and really wanted to get some sleep, but as her luck proved before, that wasn't going to happen. Bounding from the right of the long gray metallic hall came Hawaii, who still didn't have a nick name for her nick name, which was rather funny to Ra since everyone seemed to be making them up this year, or if they hadn't in the beginning they are now.

"Ra, I'm glad you're not asleep yet," she beamed, she had this weird look on her face that meant no good was about to come.

"Whatever it is i don't want anything to do with it," Ra said before she turned back around to open her door.

"But it's really important!" she began. "Please just hear me out," she begged now pulling out her puppy dog look.

Ra turned her head around once again, and she looked the pleading girl up and down, she was a year older then her, didn't show it, and had medium length wavy black hair, and dark brown eyes. At the moment the girl had found a way to get out of her armor and put on normal clothing in a matter of minutes, maybe seconds since their rooms were closer to each other than they were to Cali. Hawaii was taller than Ra, fact was she was the tallest out of the three, and Cali happened to be the shortest. Ra opened her mouth about to protest, and Hawaii seemed to have figured that out for she began pleading once again. Ra groaned but no matter how hard she tried to look upset or unwilling, she couldn't help but smile, Hawaii always seemed to bring back memories of how life used to be before they joined project freelancer. Hawaii smiled victoriously as she got a reluctant sigh from Ra.

"This better be worth it," Ra said pointing a finger at Hawaii.

"Oh it is Ra…"

"And nothing gay, i don't want a repeat of the last spying that made my eyes burn."

Hawaii giggled, smiling proudly at that fond memory, but the death glare she received from Ra stopped her in her tracks. "Alright, alright, it's nothing like that, in fact i think you would like it," she winked.

"Like i haven't heard that one before," Ra groaned as she began to follow the bouncy girl down the hall towards the hanger


	2. Stop Touching That!

Chapter 2: stop touching that!

Now Cali wasn't the kind of girl who got to know everyone, she didn't care who you were, where you came from or what you did, or will do, as long as you don't interfere with her or her family. In most cases she wouldn't even look at you, talking with her was pointless, and the other freelancers had taken the hint in the beginning. There was only one other freelancer that wasn't related to her that she would talk to, and that was only because of what they had been through.

It was a while back, on one of the few missions the director had sent Cali on without her family, her girls. It was something very simple, gather information on a supposedly deserted crash site of an old covenant ship. Cali didn't have much experience on a ship larger than the basic carriers, or Phantoms, but never a corvette and never had she tackled them alone, so to say the least the mission had frightened her, she didn't know if it was really deserted, and if there was information on it, like hell it was deserted, but it wasn't like she was going to show that while the director spoke to her. She didn't want to seem weak.

_ Cali walked out of the office, she wasn't all that happy, being given a new mission, and being separated from the only family she was in contact with, it wasn't something she was okay with. She walked down the metal halls, heading towards the hanger, she was going to take a pelican off of base towards the target, her partner was a surprise, according to the director, this had also made her upset, if she was going to be paired with someone she wasn't used to, she might as well know the agent name so she could do some unapproved reading on them. Get to know what she was going to have to deal with, however that wasn't the case, and so now she walked over to a pelican where she would have to wait for her or him, so that they could leave._

_ Wash was called in the day before, he was told that he had an important mission to do, one that he could not fail in, and just to be sure he was being paired with another freelancer, one of the ones he honestly didn't want to be paired with. Agent California wasn't the best kind of company, she was quiet, and kept to herself, however unlike her younger sister, she would actually reply to the occasional hellos or what's up. Cali never took off her armor though, never in front of other people, she would probably in the comfort of her own room, but she had never shown anyone her face, and he supposed that was an issue he could live with, well, except for the fact that she had a nasty temper, anyone who messed with her or her family would be attacked until they surrendered, but he guessed that was just her being an overly protective older sister. _

_ He was given her file, as a 'bit of reading' as the director had said, and looked through the few pages that were in the file. He had to admit; the director wasn't kidding when he said that she was a perfect field agent for this mission, and now that the day has come for them to depart, he wondered how she was, was she going to show up late, or blow this whole mission off because she wasn't working with someone she knew? He shrugged the thought off as he approached the pelican, and that's when he saw her. _

_ Agent California was leaning on the side of the dropship, her armor was Gold and a tad bit orange, the hint of blue was placed in places least looked at and her visor, she looked up at Wash and pushed herself off of the ship, her hands on her hips as if asking why he was so late. Wash smiled, not that she would see it, and nodded his head towards their transport, she nodded and the two went inside, Cali spoke briefly with the pilot then took her seat in the back, her hands on top of the sniper rifle she placed in her lap. Wash sat in front of her, he had read how she liked her space, and he wouldn't want to step on any toes today._

Ra strolled into the hanger and waited for Hawaii who had it in her head that she had to make a show out of everything, and this time it was having a 'ninja' entrance. Ra rolled her eyes as she watched her sister roll into the area, and getting up looking both ways before she nearly crawled over to the small shelter of crates.

"That isn't needed Hawaii," Ra hissed before she continued walking.

"Hey, you can't just keep walking, what if this was a mission?" Hawaii asked pointing a finger at Ra for not being ready to fight all the time.

"I don't need to act like a fool and pointlessly barrel roll into a room of people we work with," Ra rolled her eyes, "so show me what you wanted to, I'm tired, and it's not like we are going to get any sleep tomorrow, remember, we 'have a big day,' and like the last time she said that, it was two days since we got any real sleep."

Hawaii sighed, making a deep pouting face, then smiled, "alright, come on i know you would love it, we are supposed to be getting some new toys this tonight," she winked.

Ra's eyes got wide, and a bright, yet evil, grin spread across her face. As a woman who spent most of her time going over weapons, and looking for new ways to kill their enemies, the thought of playing with some new equipment before everyone else was an offer she couldn't refuse, even if she was going to get in trouble for it. She duck down and took a quick glance around the room. Besides the normal workers, who do nothing but move things, they were clear, slowly she moved from her position over to a closer crate, and waited.

"So who is the fool now?" Hawaii asked with a smirk smile.

It was a fairly large ship that came in, making Ra gets all jittery; the anticipation on what was going to come was killing her. As the workers unloaded the ship Ra decided to walk out like a normal human being, Hawaii following close by. Hawaii got to the crates first smiling gently at the workers, and started small talk with them, distracting them long enough for Ra to take a peek at what was inside. It was nothing really special, assault rifles, sniper rifles, the normal guns and rounds you would find on the three day to weekly boxes from the UNSC, she sighed, leaning onto the crate, her left arm propped up on it, and her chin resting gently on top of her left hand, tapping on the crate irritably with the right one.

"Nothing new Ra?" Hawaii asked, peeking over the man's shoulder.

"Nope nada," Ra replied in a depressed and irritated tone.

"Colorado, Hawaii?" the worker asked before he realized what was going on, "damn it, you two know you're not supposed to be touching anything!"

"Sorry not paying attention, found new toy," Ra called over as she waved her hand, she was walking up the ramp to a new looking box, it was a long rectangular metal box that had a few warning signs plastered on it. Ra rubbed her hands together and she reached down to undo the locks on the box.

"Hey don't touch that!" the man reached out to stop her. "The director wanted to pick out who would use it!"

It was too late, and as she opened the box, her face lit up into a twisted victorious smile.


	3. Try and Keep up

Chapter 3: try and keep up

_Wash couldn't help but wonder what Cali looked like underneath the helmet, he saw the picture, but it wasn't recent, he wanted to know how war, changed her soft features. Cali herself wasn't paying him any attention, she seemed to be focused on something else, and Wash wanted to know what she was thinking._

_ "Missing your girls?" he asked, and then looked away as the golden helmet turned sharply towards him. He blushed as he heard her chuckle._

_ "No, worried about what they are doing right now," she said softly, shaking her head as the possible events played in her head. _

_ "What do you mean?" Wash asked._

_ She glared at him, but knew that he couldn't see it, but she did hope that he could feel it. He twiddled his thumbs as he felt her silence cut through the armor and into his flesh. _

_ "Let's just say you're lucky you only have to deal with me," she said coldly. _

_ Wash nodded his head and looked the other way, trying hard not to stare at her visor; there was something about the storm blue tint that freaked him out. He looked at her from the corner of his eye, and saw that she was looking away from him he let out a sigh and turned his head back to face her._

_ "Have you fought the covenant before?" she asked, still refusing to look at him._

_ He blinked with all honesty he hadn't, he was taken into the project right after he had finished 'a' school, he had heard about them, even took a class about how to beat some of them, but he had never fought them in real life. "No i haven't."_

_ Cali chuckled again, and smiled smugly as she shook her head. "Well then, try and keep up with me, this is a real mission, not that crap the director has you doing." _

_ Wash was beginning to think, she was going to be like all the other girls he had worked with, mean, stuck up, and a bit of a bitch, but hey, he wouldn't know for sure until they get on the ground._

_ In the middle of the forest an armored man leaned on the thick trunk of a nearby tree, he seemed mildly amused with whatever it was he was doing, and he seemed to be waiting on something._

_ "Don't get involved Moscow, only if you must, your assignment is to…"_

_ "I know what i have to do," Moscow interrupted ending the call as he heard the hum of a nearby pelican landing. _

_ He activated his suits camo and hid in the brush, watching the pelican at a safe distance. He couldn't help but feel bad about spying on Cali, sure they weren't the best of friends, but he knew her better than any of the other agents, and he knew how paranoid she could get, but it was the only way to prove to the director that he was right about her._

_ When the pelican landed Wash couldn't help but wonder why they were dropped off so far from the crash site. He turned his head to look at Cali, see if she was as confused as he was, but all he saw was a golden flash as Cali quickly took up her sniper rifle and moved herself to a laying position on a small cliff. Wash followed her and fell to his belly and waited._

_ "Grunts, ad lucky for us, they are sleeping, oh, an elite," she smiled wickedly. She stood up and turned her blue visor down at him._

_ "Let's get going, those alien bastards won't assassinate themselves."_

_ Wash followed her down to the crashed corvette and the two stalked around the sleeping grunts, snapping their necks as silently as they could. Wash looked to his right as he finished killing the grunt in front of him. Cali was right behind an elite, she took out her knife and stabbed him quickly in the side, then climbed up his back and stabbed him i the neck, pulling the black blade back towards her body slicing up the alien's neck and just to be sure he was dead, she snapped his neck._

_ "All done here?" Wash asked with a smirk smile._

_ Cali tilted her head as if she was returning his smirk with one of her own._

_ "Yeah, i think i am," she said then stopped moving, she turned her head slightly towards the forest where they had come, she pulled out her pistol and approached the area quietly, she held her pistol out and glared. _

_ "Alright, you have been following us since we got here, show yourself and i might reconsider hanging you from your entrails," she sneered._

_ There was a small rustle in the bush, and then Moscow came out with his hands up, an amused smile playing on his lips. "Could never fool you could i Cali?" he asked._

_ Cali lowered her pistol and sighed. "Mos what are you doing here?" she asked. _

_ "Just thought I'd tag along," he lied._

_ Cali wasn't going to have an argument with him, and with all honesty she liked having him around, they had worked together before, being one of the few agents with on field training before project freelancer. The director had saw it fit to have those kind of people gather stuff from the real enemies, less chance of winding up dead. He had worked with Ra and Hawaii as well, well, all of them as a team, and though at first he didn't really like them, they grew on him over the week long mission. Cali smiled a little, and then playfully punched Mos on his arm. _

_ "Come on then, it's not as big as i had hoped but a hunt is still a hunt," she beamed, as the three of them walked into the ship._

_ Though they walked in with caution, Wash could somehow feel Cali's emotions change from grumpy and annoyed to pleasantly happy, and joyful, maybe it was because she was with someone she knew? Wash didn't know._

_ Cali didn't know data collecting would be so fun, well, fun outside of working with her girls. She was really enjoying her time away from her family, the odd pop up of Mos was something she enjoyed, and wash wasn't so bad of a partner, he learned fast, faster than most people even. She looked at him, and made a signal with her hands to watch her six. He nodded his head and kept an eye out for anything that might be behind as they entered the broken ship. The three of them killed a few more aliens as they approached the ships control room, as the doors slid open Cali's smile widened. There were three elites, from what she saw of their armor, they were Zealot class, now normally people would be worried, but this was good news for her._

_ "Zealots," she whispered turning her head behind here where the other two stood by the jammed door._

_ "Alright that's not so good?" Wash asked, receiving a small mocking grunt from Moscow._

_ He shrugged, keeping herself from laughing at Moscow's reaction. "Depends on the person, to any normal soldier, a Zealot is nothing more than absolute death, to a Spartan, a challenge, maybe, and for ONI." She paused letting a smug chuckle escape her lips. _

_ "What about ONI?" Wash asked._

_ "For ONI, the Zealots are thought of as collectors of artifacts and information important to their religion," she paused again, "my sister can hack into anything." She threw her sniper rifle into Wash and tilted her head to the right._

_ "Watch my back agent Washington, I'm going in," she winked, then looked up at Moscow, "Mos, catch you later," and with that she quietly slipped down the ramp and towards the center controls, sneaking past the wondering Zealots, there were only three from what Cali saw. She snuck up behind the one near the controls and assassinated him that was the boys queue, Moscow knew it, he had worked with Cali before and though she rarely talked during that mission, and he knew what her actions meant_

_ Moscow jabbed Wash in the ribs._

_ "Take out the Zealot on the right, i got left," he said coldly, and then picked up his own sniper rifle._

_ From the moment he met Moscow, Wash had that feeling that Mos didn't like anybody, today just proved himself right, sort of, as it turned out he liked Cali, however, Mos didn't like him. Wash looked into the scope of the sniper rifle and swiftly aimed at the unprotected neck of the Zealot._

_ "On my mark….Mark!" _

_ The two of them pulled the trigger, the bullets leaving the barrel and finding their place into the soft flesh of their targets. For Wash it was an instant kill through the neck, for Mos it was an instant kill through the eye hole of the Zealot's helmet._

_ Cali was already done by the time the men went down to see her. _

_ "Storage block C, right below us, it seems this ship was carrying a new Forerunner weapon, the Zealots were on board to be sure that those dumb brutes didn't fuck up," she turned her attention to Moscow._

_ "Let's steal it, don't want to go back empty handed," she beamed with her hands on her hips._

_ Moscow laughed shaking his head Wash checked how many bullets he had in his pistol. _

_ "Alright let's go," Wash said with a tilt of his head._

_ Cali nodded her head then led the way to the storage room. They ran through the purple and gray halls of the ship. Wires dangled from the cracks in the celling, and the walls looked like it had caved in on them, whatever fight they had gotten themselves into, they had lost badly. Cali turned the corner and frowned. Right in front of her, blocking her way from her treasure, was a piece of broken wall, a brute and jackal was lying lifeless underneath it._

_ "Tch, figures something like this would be in our way," she huffed, and then turned her helmeted head towards Moscow. "Could you please?" she asked._

_ Mos nodded his head, "guess it's a good thing I'm here then huh?" he smirked._

_ Cali rolled her eyes and pointed to the wall in their way. "I want to get this thing while I'm still young," she huffed, she shook her head and placed her hands on her hips, "besides, don't you want to see their new toy?" _

_ Wash watched silently as Cali and Mos talked, and then when Mos tossed the broken wall aside, he began to wonder why he was put on this team, when they only needed Mos. All Wash did was shoot an elite, and put his foot in his mouth, Cali obviously felt more comfortable with Mos._

_ "Wash, don't just stand there like a statue, come pilfer their stuff with us," Cali called, bringing Wash back to reality._

_ Wash didn't wait to be told a second time, he quickly ran into the room and started taking whatever he thought was useful. He stopped mid step as he came across a medium sized rectangular box, he called Cali and Mos over to him. Cali nodded her head with satisfaction, as she checked it over. _

_ "This is it, nice job Wash," she said before she picked it up and walked out of the room._

_ Mos waited till Wash followed, he smiled behind his visor and made a note within his suits extra functions, then joined them shortly afterwards._

_ Cali spoke very little, slipping back to her old habits, she seemed deep in thought, so much so that she didn't react fast enough when they were ambushed._

_ It was two brutes and a forth zealot, Mos took out his dagger and slit the wrist of the zealot, before he was able to stab the large freelancer with an energy sword. Mos then proceeded to punch the elite several times before he thrust the blade into the soft flesh of his exposed neck, and then drew the blade towards him. Cali snapped back to reality when she saw a brute to close for comfort, at first she had thought of taking her magnum and shooting it between the eyes, but it was too late for that, the only thing she could do now was block the brute's attack. The beast swung his massive arm down on her, attempting to knock her out. When that failed the chieftain decided to knock her out with his gravity hammer. Cali gritted her teeth and glared at the alien, she was about to knee him in the crouch but was suddenly tackled from the side._

_ "Cali!" Wash had called out when he saw her in danger, he had tackled her, pushing her out of the way, then used his DMR to shoot the brute in the side of his head._

_ "That was a close one, huh Cali?" Wash asked looking to the side, but Cali wasn't there, instead was a cliff side. _

_ "YOU FUCKING RETARD!" Cali yelled as she fell._

_ Wash's eyes went wide as panic filled his mind, and before Mos had the chance to tell him to calm down, Wash had jumped off the cliff after her._

_ Cali threw her helmet onto the dirt floor she had dragged herself out of. She started coughing, using all her strength to keep herself from falling on all fours and vomiting. She threw the man behind her a sharp glare before she shook herself of excess water, and began the long thread of curses, in Korean and English._

_ Wash pulled himself together and was lucky that his suit was capable of protecting its self from water; however it seemed that Cali's wasn't._

_ "Hey i saved your life, the least you could do is say thanks," Wash called out receiving a burning glare from the young woman._

_ "What did you just say?" she demanded slowly, walking towards Wash with dark intents dancing within her chocolate brown eyes._

_ Wash gulped, yeah she scared him, but he had to suck it up and be a man. "I said, i saved your life the least you could do was thank me," he snapped trying to sound angry at her._

_ Cali chuckled, and that broke him a little. "Thank you?" she started. "I should hang you by your entrails' ad parade your corpse around the base!" she hissed as she began to take off her armor. "Do you have any idea what you just did, i had everything under control, then you show up and push me over a fucking cliff!" she began ranting. "My armor wasn't made for swimming, it's light meant for quick infiltration and recon, not under water excavations, not cliff diving, not space, if i knew this was going to happen i would have taken a different set of armor," she had finished stripping out of her gold and blue armor, then made a small fire and placed her armor around the fire to dry off._

_ She stared deeply into the dancing flames, forgetting her rant with Wash. "Four zealots, and a brute chieftain, must be my lucky day," she beamed._

_ "How was that lucky?" Wash asked as he sat down a few feet away from her._

_ "Lucky because whatever the hell that box holds, it's really important if the covenant is putting that much protection in it," she replied smugly, then sneezed. _

_ It was a chilly night, Wash didn't notice because his suit had climate control, and kept his body warm, but since Cali's suit wasn't working as well as it should be, her climate control probably wouldn't have worked anyways. He felt bad for her, so he decided he would offer her his suit. She looked up at him and tilted her head to the side, by this time Cali had gotten out of the cold damp bodysuit and had laid it out above the fire on a thick stick, she had taken her hair out of the tight bun, the thick black curls cradled her soft caramel face, outlined by the two moons in the dark sky of the planet they were on. Wash was down to his bodysuit when she came closer to him, obviously, she spotted him staring at her, and she was about to yell his ear off for it, at least that was what he had thought. Cali wasn't wearing much, just a skin tight black tank top and matching shorts; it was all very distracting, as the fabric clung to her skin, outlining her slender figure, and perfect curves. Wash gulped a little, wondering what he was going to say to save his ass._

_ "Take off the bodysuit," she said with a soft sigh. _

_ Wash blinked and had to give himself a pinch, was she really asking him to strip?_

_ "What?" Wash asked baffled._

_ "You heard me agent Washington, remove your bodysuit, it's wet, and you're going to catch a cold," she repeated, this time with a little irritation playing at her words._

_ Wash did as he was told, wishing he still had his helmet on, to hide the growing blush. Soon h was down to his boxers, he looked up at Cali she had taken parts of her armor ad was rewiring them to create what looked like some kind of cage around their prize. She stood back dusted herself off, and took a second to admire her work, she turned her head towards him and for what seemed like the first time to Wash, she smiled at him._

_ "Lay down, we're safe here, and both of us need our rest," she said as she made her way towards him._

_ "Alright, can i ask why you wanted me out of my bodysuit?" Wash asked._

_ Cali sighed, biting her bottom lip while she thought of something to say that won't sound like she wanted to rape him. She walked closer and laid a hand on his bare chest, her eyes widening at how much body heat he was generating. _

_ "Just as i thought," she said more to herself than Wash. "You're warm," she giggled then skipped off like nothing had happened._

_ Wash had shivered under her touch, and was glad that she didn't notice. He watched intently as she picked up his wet bodysuit and placed it above the fire next to hers. She blew into her hands and rubbed them together, cursing silently to herself. Wash couldn't watch her like that, she looked so frail and small, and he walked up behind her._

_ "Don't hit me," he warned then wrapped his arms around her._

_ She made a small squeaking noise of protest, but it was ended there as her squeaks had made Wash chuckle and for once in a long time she blushed._

_ "Don't…don't get any ideas, I'm a married woman," she snapped, but it came out more submissive then she had meant for it to be._

_ "I know," Wash sighed. "But, i couldn't let you freeze, with your bad blood circulation, and all," he sighed._

_ Cali grew stiff and she pushed herself away from Wash, a new kind of anger boiling over, no one outside of her girls and Mos, knew about her personal life, and no one knew she had some medical problems, so how was it that Wash knew?_

_ "How the hell did you know that?" she demanded._

_ Wash mentally smacked himself, but there was no going back now. He approached her slowly lifting his hands up showing that he didn't want to fight._

_ "The director told me," he said, it wasn't quite the truth, but it wasn't a lie either, and this way he might be able to save his own skin from her furry._

_ She continued to glare at him, but the cold was beginning to be too much for her, she barely generated enough heat to live on a normal day, this was bad._

_ "Why?" _

_ "I don't know," he replied, he pulled Cali into his arms and hugged her; smiling as he heard her sigh, then snuggle against his chest. Through he won't admit it, he was cold too, but he was okay with it, for now._

_ Cali didn't want to sleep but she did, she closed her eyes for what she thought was a few seconds, and she passed out. Wash sighed and found a nice place to lay near the fire, he sat down, keeping Cali in his arms, he wouldn't let her go until she was awake, he was afraid that she would die if he did. She slept silently making a few noises every few moments, but nothing big._

_ "Alex, don't go, you'll never come back...Please brother, come back home," she whimpered in her sleep._

_ This had woken Wash up; he looked down to see Cali curled up in his lap, little tear drops rolled down her cheek and onto his chest. He stroked her hair, pushing her bangs away from her left eye; he noticed the scare at the edge of her eye and wondered how she got that, probably from a fight, he sighed, looking up at the stars. He hadn't noticed he was still stroking Cali's hair, but she did. She had woken up, a hopeful light in her eyes, but when she looked up, her face fell and the light died. She tried to go back to sleep but it was nearly impossible._

_ "I was talking in my sleep huh?" she asked._

_ Wash looked down. "Yeah," he whispered. _

_ Cali sighed, and turned her head so that she was staring at the stars. "I'm sorry, whatever i said, i…"_

_ "I'm sorry you lost your brother, it must have been harsh," he said stopping her apology. For some reason hearing Cali like this was starting to make him sick._

_ She blinked, and bit her lower lip, she didn't know she was talking about her brother, it was really hard now, to get o without that empty feeling, every now and then she would wake up to her husband, he would always smile at her and tell her everything was alright, but not to night, that had stopped years ago, so why should that change? Lately she had been waking up to her dark room, ending her sleep with tears and fears for the rest of her family. _

_ "How did he die?" Wash asked, his tone was still soft and welcoming, the kind that Cali couldn't get mad at._

_ She sighed and turned her head back to his chest. "He was on the cruiser when it imploded, someone didn't put the slipspace drive in right, he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, I," she couldn't talk anymore; she missed him too much to._

_ Wash stood up, Cali still in his arms, he was surprised with how light she weighed, and she couldn't be any more then eighty five pounds. For a woman who could take on an elite and kill it in an instant, this was unexpected. He walked to their hanging bodysuits. Cali leapt out of his arms and pulled her suit off of the hanging stick, smiling with pride as she put it on, and zipped it up, she didn't care that it showed more of her then she wanted it too, it was familiar and warm. She slipped back on her gloves and looked back at wash who was zipping his suit up as well._

_ "Let's get back to work, morning is just around the corner, if we start now we should be able to randevu with Moscow and get the hell off this rock," she stated, as she began working on her armor again, placing components back in place, then slipping them onto her body, sealing it shut with the locking latches, then picked up her helmet._

_ "I learned a few things from my techy sister, Ra can do some insane things," she smiled._

_ "So agent Colorado really is your sister?" Wash asked._

_ "Yeah, ninety pounds of ninja furry with all the brains of an ONI top scientist," she beamed proudly._

_ Wash chuckled as he started putting on his own armor; Cali was irritated about how slow the ma was moving. Any slower, and she might as well fall back asleep, she rolled her eyes and sat down on the dirt with the metal case in her lap._

_ "Before the sun raises Wash, "she called out in irritation._

_ Moscow had discarded the last covenant trooper in the area and sat down. He worried about Wash, but only because the poor sap had to deal with Cali's rage, and though he had never been on the receiving end of such uncontrollable blind rage, he had seen the poor elite that had._

_ "Agent Moscow do you read?" Came in the director's voice._

_ "This is Moscow i read you," Mos replied._

_ "How are they Mos?" The director asked._

_ "I'm not sure, the last thing i saw was Wash pushing Cali out of the way of a gravity hammer and she fell down a cliff cursing, he followed," Mos chuckled, shaking his head a little._

_ "So their dead?" The director asked sounding more than a little disappointed, like he normally does._

_ "No, Cali may be small and underweight, but she is unwilling to die until a task is done, besides they have their armor on, I'm positive they are alive and making their way back to the randevu.  
>Mos reassured. "Send the pelican in as planned," Mos added, he knew Cali wouldn't die, this wasn't the first time she fell off a cliff, and it was however the first time she was pushed over by a teammate. Moscow tried Cali's radio once again, hoping that he would get more then static.<em>

_ "This is Cali's delivery service, you order we deliver," she answered with a joyful service girl voice._

_ Moscow laughed and shook his head. "You worried me, where are you?" he asked._

_ "Let me check if my GPS and other electronics survived the dive," she said sarcastically. "Alright, lucky for us both its working, we are about one and a half kicks away from your current position," she added, a bit more than happy that she would be getting off the planet soon._

_ "See you soon Cali, the pelican is coming by the way," he smiled._

_ "Tell it to wait," Cali puffed._

_ "Why don't you run?" Mos offered._

_ "Why don't i shove my foot up your ass," she growled but the playfulness she had in her voice throughout their conversation never faded away._

_ Mos laughed again, "You're too small to reach it," he said dismissing her threat. _

_ Cali grunted. "See you soon then," she sighed then ended the call._

_ Wash smiled as he walked alongside Cali. "Hey Cali," he started._

_ "What is it?" she asked_

_ "Well noting much, but I'll make you a bet," Wash said smugly not wanting to end the conversation with something sad._

_ "Alright, what is it?" Cali asked._

_ "I bet i can save your life before we meet up with Moscow."_

_ Cali snorted, and turned her helmeted head towards him. "Oh really, aright, and if i win, you'll have to prance around the base chanting you're a pretty princess," she beamed._

_ "That's…a little mean," Wash laughed uncomfortably._

_ "Yeah, but so is thinking that i need to be rescued," she wagged her finger in the air as she turned her back to him.  
>"Alright, well, i think I'll be a bit nicer, if i win, you owe me a mug of coffee," he smiled.<em>

_ "Alright, it's a bet," she smiled, shaking her head as they continued on. _

_ "I sure hope i win," Wash whispered to himself._

_ Moscow lay back against a tree trunk he had found, there was little time he had ever truly relaxed. If he wasn't fighting, he was either sleeping, or in enemy crudity, not that that was a bad thing, he did it on purpose for only one reason, to break out and blow them up himself._

_ He sighed, waiting for Cali was probably one of the greatest things that happened today, however he couldn't help but wonder when they were going to get back. On the corner of his HUD he saw a small dot blinking on and off, telling him that he had an incoming call._

_ "Moscow here," he answered._

_ "This is Commander Kim of the UNSC absolute justice, just calling to let you know your evac is on its way," Kim smiled, he and his men had been working with the on field freelancers since they started, at first he wasn't too crazy about them, but like everyone else, they sort of grew on him, and he couldn't say no when asked to take them to a new planet, or whatever their objective was at._

_ "Thank you sir, we'll as soon as it lands," Moscow said positive that Cali and Wash could make it on time. "Could you send in a few medics as well?" _

_ "I hope so, i don't want to be a sitting duck out here, and sure, I'll send in three, just in case," Kim replied. _

_ Cali almost held her breath when she saw how close she was to getting to the oncoming pelican, she knew that it was smooth sailing from here; at least it always was whenever she went on a mission like this. It was her over excitement to be on the absolute justice, that she wasn't paying attention to what was going on._

_ Wash had a depressed and beaten look on his face when he saw how close they were to the evac spot, however quickly changed to shock joy then fear as another brute charged her, he laughed as he slammed his large foot on top of her stomach, smiling with victory as she cried out in pain._

_ Cali tried to reach the pistol at her side but the pain was too much, she felt like he was going to break her like a twig._

_ Wash took his pistol only to find it out of ammo and all his extras was washed away when they fell into the lake. He ran at the beast taking his knife out and thrusting it into the brute's side as he climbed up his back and stabbed the knife into his soft neck, slitting all the veins and soft tissue in one single swipe._

_ The brute fell on top of Cali and she pushed it off with a pained grunt._

_ Wash helped her up from the ground having her lean on his left side, the package in her right hand, and a brute spiker in his right._

_ "Looks like you win," she said with a struggled laugh and a cough._

_ "Save it till we get to safety, you need medical attention," Wash said seriously. He took a quick look around then turned on his radio with his middle finger._

_ "Agent Moscow, this is Washington, we need an evac now, i got injured, and she needs care now."_

_ "Got it Wash, evac is on its way, head to my position, setting up NAV point now," Mos replied, he switched off to the pilot of the pelican, telling her that she needed to hurry._

_ Moscow was surprised that Cali was the one injured, today just wasn't her day._

_ As the pelican landed a stretcher ad four medics rushed out, laying Cali down and sticking her with pain killers, getting a string of multilingual curses from the pained freelancer. Wash watched them take her in before he boarded the pelican._

_ "Does she always curse like that?" Wash asked turning his head towards Mos._

_ "Sometimes," he paused, "Yeah, every time she is pissed off," Mos sighed. "What happened?" _

_ "Brute charged her from the side, didn't see anything on our scanners, he pinned her down with his foot crushing her, I killed him from behind, my gun was out so i had to use the knife," Wash explained._

_ Moscow nodded his head and made his way to the pelican. "This is going to be a long ride home."_

Wash leaned back in his chair, it had been a little over a week, and through she was supposed to be in bed, finishing up healing. The director had her go on another week long trip a day after she came home, and after he put her through simulated training.

"How are you feeling D?" Wash asked as he took his mug from her.

"I'm doing better, but I'm stuck on the sidelines during missions," Cali sighed shrugging a bit, "they are also going to make my armor a little bit more water resistant."

Wash chuckled, taking a large sip of his coffee. "That's good, well, how long do you have till you leave again?"

Cali sighed, pulling her mug of coco closer to her face. "I'm being briefed in the morning," she sighed. "All i know is that whatever it is, it's about that weapon we found," she puffed.

Wash nodded his head, he couldn't help but smile like a fool, and Cali noticed, she looked at him with great confusion, and then glared at him.

"What the hell are you smiling at?" She demanded.

Wash put his mug down and chuckled. "What?" he asked.

Cali pointed a finger at him and shook her head, "You got something on your mind, spill it."

He lifted his hands in surrender and then leaned forward in his chair, smiling once again at the blasian across from him. "Heard South is pretty pissed," he started.

Cali grunted it wasn't that she hated the woman; she just never wanted to work with such a self-centered, brat like her. "What of it?"

"Heard her bitching about you and your girls," he added.

"She started it, i ended it," she protested.

"You talked first."

"She glared at me, so i spoke the truth," Cali argued.

"Alright, alright, care to share with me what was said?" Wash asked crossing his arms.

"I said, 'See girls this is we are sent to collect data,' then she went on about how her name is on the board, so Hawaii and Ra said that we didn't need our names the board to know we are better," Cali shrugged.

Wash chuckled shaking his head. The two of them enjoyed their drinks and laughter until they heard screaming, ad Cali groaned running her hand across her face, as she figured that it had something to do with Ra and Hawaii.

"Should we go check that out?" Wash asked.

Cali smiled halfheartedly, "i have a feeling we won't have much of a choice soon."

Ra was still in a heated argument with the man before her, trying hard to go past his rank; she couldn't pull rank on him, since she was still labeled as a civilian. Hawaii giggled, but was soon bored, and decided to play with some of the other items in the ship, cause the man to trip balls even more.

"What are you doing, put those grenades back!" he screeched.

"Ra, Hawaii!" Cali shouted from the opening of the pelican. "i thought i gave you two an order to go to bed, what part of 'we have a big day' don't you get?" she spoke with a tone that demanded respect, and anything less would be met with a bullet wound in the head.

Ra gave the man in front of her one last death glare then walked out of the pelican. "sorry Cali, thought i would see what new toys we get to play with before anyone else, I'll head back to bed,: she smiled, then walked back to her room.

Cali turned her attention to the light brown woman in front of her. Hawaii smiled innocently, like she had no part, or idea, of what was going on.

"Hawaii that means you too, though I have now physical proof, I know you had something to do with this," she huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "Keep this up, and I'll replace you with another freelancer."

Hawaii sighed, nodded her head, and then went on her way towards her room. Cali sighed, taking hold of the metal box and placing it back where it was originally.

"They will have to wait, if anything Ra would be contacted first about this new toy, that i nearly died for," she sighed. Turning her head to Wash she smiled softly. "It's getting late Wash, I'm going to go to bed, tell me if anything interesting happens while I'm gone," she laughed before she retreated to the comfort and quiet of her own room.

"Only if anything good happens!" Wash called after her.


	4. By the power of Ra

Chapter 4: By the power of Ra

Not much is known about the green and yellow freelancer. Mainly because she works on a need-to-know basis, and there are only a few things you need to know. She had top clearance in Project Freelance;, what she says is law, and if she wants to use someone as a lab rat then so be it. Ra holds power, and knows things that even the Councillor doesn't know.

Three weeks before the arrival of Agent Texas

"Where are you headed?" Cali asked. Normally, they would hit the mess hall, grab some coco and a bite to eat. Halfway through their snack the sisters would talk about their mission, if anything good came from it. Today, Ra was going straight to the upper levels of the Mother of Invention, not something she does often.

"The Director wanted to see me," she smiled.

Cali knew it was probably a lie, but also knew that her sister's work kept them alive. "You don't have to lie," she started. "F..S got some new simulation fields, thought I'd try them out," she waved then walked to the training area without another word.

Ra sighed, hitting the elevator button. She decided to look over the footage of their latest mission, which her helmet had conveniently recorded. She wouldn't tell the others, but their missions were her ideas, to collect material for her projects. She knew the Director hated to be second best, especially in his own show, so she always stayed quiet when he was giving them the missions.

In each mission they had been to Ra had collected something she was in need of. An artifact here, a chemical there, mostly intel of the highest level. Whatever it was, she was sure to get it, in order to make her achievements. She had made it her personal goal to make the freelancers more powerful and more desirable on the battle field.

"Where will you be going Agent Colorado?" came in a feminine voice.

"Research lab F.I.L.S.S," she replied.

"I am sorry, but I am not allowed to let you through Agent Colorado. Only authorized personnel are allowed in the labs."

"Right," Ra sighed, taking off her helmet. "Doctor Hatch, access code 07-1312."

There was a long pause, "Welcome back, doctor. To the labs?" F.I.L.S.S asked.

"Yes, thank you," Ra replied. I will have to fix her programing; make her a bit more intelligent. I don't want to have to deal with this again, she thought as she leaned against the metal wall of the elevator.

The elevator moved in a timely fashion towards the labs. Once there, the doors opened and Ra walked out. She made her way to the lockers and started removing the metal plates of her armour, replacing them with a white lab coat and a pair of thin glasses. Short black hair curled around Ra's soft, tanned face, and her green eyes shine with the deep pride she takes in her work. She walked to the main room; three or four other scientists were already there. They looked up from what they were doing and bowed to her.

"Welcome back, doctor," one said cheerfully.

"Everything is running smoothly," reported another.

"The Director is waiting for you in your office, ma'am."

She bowed her head slightly in acknowledgement then continued her path towards her office. Everything around her, including her office, was a sterilized white, with the exceptions of the experiments, and projects themselves. The metal door leading to Ra's office opened, and standing facing her old on-going projects was the Director.

"Agent Colorado," the director started.

"When out of armour you will address me as the Wonderful Master of all Things Awesome, Doctor Hatch, or Yuffie. Colorado is a freelancer name," she said coldly.

The Director chuckled, "Alright, Doctor Hatch; you know why I'm here."

Ra walked towards him, her hands folded neatly behind her back.

"Yes. Now, I have tried using the brain scan, but even for me, creating an AI of something so old will take time," she started. "And we don't have time now do we?"

"I'm aware of that, doctor," the Director hissed.

"So, let's try something fresh," she smiled, ignoring his irritation. She walked to her desk and pushed a small button on the side. The back wall, which was mostly picture frames of her most memorable kills with her sisters, opened up to reveal another lab.

"It's not like the one in my room, but it will have to do," she said, disappointed.

"Of course, doctor," the Director nodded his head, and allowed himself to be led into the lab, and then seated in a chair.

"I'll hook you up to the monitors and then scan your brain. Keep calm and keep your mind clear; any kind of strong emotion can alter the AI greatly," she instructed as she stuck sensor pads to his head, arms, and chest.

"I'll do my best, Doctor Hatch," the director said sarcastically.

Ra rolled her eyes, "Sarcasm counts as well." She went to the controls and started up the machine.

The chair the Director was sitting in reclined greatly, and then slid into a half-arch machine. He closed his eyes and tried to keep calm, but it was hard for him to stop his thoughts from running rampant. Ra was too focused on the downloading process, memory storage, and of course the creations process of the AI itself, to have noticed the director's brain patterns and how it was changing from what it was when they began. It wasn't too much of a change to send Ra a warning, so she hadn't thought of checking it.

"Everything is coming out right," she smiled proudly.

"Of course it is –it's an AI created from my scan!" the Director called out.

"Sir!" Ra yelled, "I told you to keep you mind clear!"

"Too late for that," he muttered under his breath.

Ra shook her head. "If this guy comes out warped, or an asshole, it's your fault," she growled, not wanting to take the blame for a failed AI.

"Alright scan complete, memory storage complete, personality complete, AI creation ninety eight percent," she frowned. Her eyes went wide as she checked the AI model, instead of the one AI she was expecting, there were two. The first blue, the second one black, and it looked like they were holding each other.

"Amazing," she breathed.

The Director had been slid out of the machine and was walking towards Ra, pulling off all the sensors attached to him.

"What's the matter, doctor?" the Director asked. "Is my AI more than you can handle?"

Ra snorted, "As if, but come and look," she waved her hand at him, calling him to her.

The Director did as he was told and when he got there his jaw dropped.

"Allison?" he breathed.

Ra didn't have to ask who Allison was; she knew already. Even though the Director didn't know she knew. She had a terrible knack of researching the people she worked with in-depth.

"Your memory of her was so strong, I think it fragmented into another AI," she predicted, but it sounded more like she was stating a fact, then an educated guess.

"Fragmented..."

"Yes. If what I said is true, then any strong emotion or memory can be fragmented to create its own being, like multiple personalities in a normal human," Ra explained. "But for now," she added as she separated the two AI's, leaving Allison in a sleep mode, while putting the first into an AI containment unit.

"His name is Alpha, and that's your AI," she said, handing the containment unit to him.

"And what about the new one?" he asked, obviously not so pleased that he was only getting one.

"I'll be keeping her here," Ra replied firmly, her voice leaving no space for debate, bribery, or threats. She will keep Allison, and the Director will just have to trust her.

The director frowned, not pleased at all with Ra, but he knew that arguing with her was useless. He had already been there, even threated her position, but it was always met with her firm counter arguments, and logic.

"I needed a stronger AI for my project. If all turns out well, Allison will have a physical body, one you can't tell is robotic or not," she said then dismissed him. "I have work, now leave."

"How long will it take?" he asked.

"For what?"

"For Allison to have that body?"

Ra paused for a moment; this was something she was working on even before Project Freelancer. Just something to keep her mind working, so it was taking longer than it should.

"Three weeks with no interruptions," she replied.

"Very well, you will have it," he nodded his head. "But... what about your sisters and your missions?"

"Hawaii can work with anyone, but I don't want to send her on her own. Cali can't work with her alone, either," Ra said shaking her head.

"And why can't they work together?"

"Because Wai gets on Cali's nerves," she stated. "The only person alive who can get on Cali's nerves," Ra explained with a small shrug.

"So Hawaii is highly annoying..."

"No, Cali never killed Wai," Ra corrected.

The Director blinked, not sure if he should be proud that Cali has no trouble ending a life, or scared that she has no problem ending a life. Especially the life of someone she deems annoying.

"Your team still needs to go out on their missions," he said calmly.

"Yes, there are still a few things left for me to collect before my current project is complete," Ra acknowledged. "Send Cali on those missions with your best freelancers, but not all at once," she began. "Cali would tell me if they're good to work with or still need training. I'll tell you, and we'll move on from there," she offered.

The two started walking back to her office; Ra activated a hologram of a stellular map. One point of the map highlighted what appears to be a target.

"I have tracked a Covenant research corvette to this location. If my intel is correct, then what I need is in it."

"Very well, and the plan is?" he asked.

"I want you to send agents Hawaii, California, and Moscow to go bring her down, and bring back the artifact being carried in her holds," Ra smiled, folding her arms across her chest. "I want the Mother of Invention waiting at a safe distance; the Absolute Justice and Last Hope will be cutting the corvette off from its route to refuel, plenty of time to bring her down."

"I'm guessing I should tell them that and let Cali handle the rest," the Director offered with a smirk on his face.

"You know me so well," Ra replied mockingly.

"I'll keep you updated," he said with a small nod of his head.

"Oh, and Doctor Church," Ra called after him.

He stopped mid-step, and turned his head slightly to the side.

"I won't except failure, especially from those three, make that very clear to them," she said, bowing her head to dismiss the director.

"I'll see to it that they know, Doctor. Keep up with your research," he added before he left her office.

"Don't worry, dear Director, I'll be done with it in a few weeks," she said quietly to herself as she turned her attention to the robot.


End file.
